The short answer on Brooks Golf Shoes: pick one anchor piece, keep the palette to two colours, and let the shoes decide how formal the whole thing reads. Proportion does more than colour: volume on top wants something narrow below, and the reverse. Repeat one element, a metal, a texture or a colour, and an outfit looks deliberate. A stacked heel walks better than a block of the same height. The groups below run from the decision that matters most to the ones you make afterwards.

What decides this is shaft height, calf width and sole grip. Everything else is preference. Two from the first group show the range: aldoshoes.com's Suitsneaker at $50, and ALDO Shoes's Chicsneaker2 at $40. The first is the considered buy; the second is the one to start with. Measure your calf before buying anything with a shaft above the ankle. A stacked heel walks better than a block of the same height. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

Boots want either a skimming trouser or nothing below the knee at all. From the second group, byfar.com's Nieves Ristretto Lamb Nappa Leather Knee-High Boot ($455) is the one that earns its place, because it works in more than one context without being restyled. The third group is smaller and deliberately narrower, sandals, for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

There are 20 pieces here from 14 brands, $40 to $650, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. ALDO Shoes's Chicsneaker2 at $40 is the low-risk way in, and By Far's Stevie 42 Black Smooth Calf Leather Knee-High Boot at $650 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. Read as a set, they get you close to Brooks Golf Shoes without any single purchase being compulsory. Nothing here is included because it is famous, and price is not used as a proxy for quality anywhere on this page. If you take one thing away: the piece you reach for on a rushed morning is the one that was worth the money.